How to teach Gemology

When you meet the students you need to learn what their goals are; some may be at the school to:

- fill up time
- father/mother said they had to learn the business
- become a gemologist
- learn how gem traders & gemologists make money, etc

# You share goals and explain why they are important. Learn what pressures your students are working under and this may help guide your pace of teaching.

# Course content should be arranged from the simple to complex, but the student must grasp the information each step of the way. They have been exposed to color & cuts of gemstones. This information is built upon. The way light, both natural and man-made is used in looking at the colors of stones—the difference in various lights—how light rays are bent when they pass through a stone and then the use of such instruments as the refractometer in measuring the path of light should be explained in a way they can understand. In other words, you are showing the relationships of theory to its application in gemology—another way of saying this is the student is introduced to the simple polariscope before they use the refractometer. Students are learning content/skills that are likely to be useful later in life. Students encounter familiar ideas and simple phenomena before those that are unfamiliar and more complex.

# Gemologically based content helps students become familiar with practice and employer needs. For example, students see via fieldtrips to mines and cutting factories how gem material is obtained from the earth, what it looks like in the rough and why stones like rubies are cut as shallow stones. By visiting factories using traditional ways of cutting versus highly mechanized cutting factories they learn advantage and disadvantages of different production methods.

# Research about teaching and learning shows that students learn more content more quickly and retain what they have learned longer if they are actually engaged. Lecture is a passive mode of learning whereas field experiences, labs, and discussions are active mode of learning.

# Textbooks and other references like journals integrate course content; encourage students to use them. When there are discrepancies in author viewpoint this can be used to help students clarify their logic in approach to a problem solving. It also helps students see that ‘truths’ are not always agreed upon. Exposure to current journals encourages students to continue reading and learning after their formal education process is finished- i.e., life long learning. Attendance at gem shows is another means of exposing students to what is new in the gem field. The formal lectures sponsored at these events often times introduces students to current problems, current research, and leaders in the field.

# Teachers should be willing to continuously examine one’s own assumptions, beliefs and practices. The ‘answer key’ for courses should be revised and re-examined on a regular basis. The faculty must be involved in course improvement efforts. Curriculum decisions are based on research, expertise of teachers and recommendations of learned gemologists.

# Teachers should be committed to student learning as the fundamental purpose of gem education and that all students can learn. You should attempt to inculcate in students an appreciation of cultures from all parts of the world and that diversity of ideas contribute to the gem and jewelry industry.

# Teachers should serve as a role model; demonstrate values, beliefs and attitudes that inspire others to higher level of performance.